The Hole In The Sky- Ishaan Nigam

The Hole In The Sky 

9 to 18 miles above the earth’s surface, a gas called ozone surrounds the planet. The ozone layer acts as a barrier between earth and ultraviolet radiation from the sun however,  pollution has caused the ozone layer to thin, exposing life on earth to dangerous levels of radiation. Exposure to these ultraviolet rays increases the risk for skin cancer and it damages plants and marine ecosystems. Even though humans have reduced the ozone hole significantly by restricting the use of chemicals, many believe the situation still deserves much attention.

The second layer of the earth’s atmosphere, the stratosphere, contains the ozone layer. This layer is made up of a highly reactive molecule called ozone which contains three oxygen atoms. Even though there are only three molecules of ozone for every ten million molecules of air, it plays a significant role. Think of the ozone layer as Earth's personal sunscreen. Absorbing about 98% of damaging UV light, the ozone layer is a critical element to why we live healthy lives. But sadly, the layer has gotten thinner due to the chemical called chlorofluorocarbons or CFCs. CFCs contain the elements carbon, chlorine, and fluorine. They are commonly found in refrigerants, aerosols, and plastic products. When CFCs are exposed to ultraviolet rays in the atmosphere, they breakdown into substances in which react with the oxygen atoms causing the ozone molecule to break.

​A commonly asked question about the hole in the stratosphere is, “Is ozone depletion leading to climate change?” After all the research I could find, I would conclude that it doesn’t. While some extra UV rays of the Sun slip through the hole, their effect is to cool the stratosphere more than warm the troposphere. So this increase in UV rays cannot explain the increase in temperature of the planet's surface. However, scientists have recently discovered that the colder stratosphere has resulted in faster winds near the pole, which then travels all the way near the equator affecting tropical circulation and rainfall. So ozone depletion does affect atmospheric circulation but doesn’t cause global warming. 

Antarctic is where the ozone hole has formed. Due to the region's low temperatures, the conversion rate of CFCs to ozone-damaging chlorine is significantly sped up. 90% of CFCs in the atmosphere were emitted by industrialized countries in the northern hemisphere. In 1989 the Montreal Protocol banned the production of ozone depleting substances. Since then, the amount of chlorine and other ozone-depleting elements in the atmosphere have been falling. Scientists predict that chlorine levels will return to normal by around 2070, resulting in the ozone layer to be fully strengthened.

Although without the Montreal Protocol pact, the U.S. would have seen an additional 280 million cases of skin cancer, 1.5 million skin cancer deaths, and the world would be at least 25 percent warmer; scientists believe the problem still deserves attention. Just recently, there were reports of possible violations regarding the Montreal pact with multiple developing countries. If more countries believe it is “fine” to break the protocol, then we won’t make any progress helping the ozone hole. Scientists believe the pact deserves funding to help out developing countries in following the rule. Is it worth to fund the Montreal pact? In addition, there are also many coolants such as hydrochlorofluorocarbons that are still damaging the ozone layer but aren't addressed in the Montreal pact(not as damaging as CFCs). Should there be an additional rule set to the Montreal pact? Is it worth spending more time and money on helping the ozone layer even though it is projected for there to be no hole by 2070?

Work Cited

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/ozone-depletion/

https://www.britannica.com/science/ozone-depletion

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2019/2019-ozone-hole-is-the-smallest-on-record-since-its-discovery

https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/world-of-change/Ozone

https://climate.nasa.gov/faq/15/is-the-ozone-hole-causing-climate-change/

The Rise of Cities- Will Miller

       The Rise of Cities

          Throughout history, mankind tends to fall back on growth and expansion. The first cities were built around 7,500 BCE, with populations rising to around 80,000; today there are over 4,000 cities around the world with at least 100,000 people residing in them. The rise of cities and urban areas have been great for establishing economies, jobs, and housing, but the earth as a physical entity has suffered a brutal toll because of it. Big organizations have resorted to expanding onto some of the world’s natural wonders, completely tarnishing the historical beauty of the earth. All of this to simply change the traditional agrarian lifestyle. Is it really worth tainting the Rocky Mountains, Niagara Falls, or the Amazon Rainforest just to gather resources people already have or expand a business’ workplace? Urbanization has been around for quite some time, but today’s world is losing its respect for natural habitats and environment.    

       

          

          The rise of urban cities that have shaped today’s society has brought humanity exactly what it wants: growth and innovation. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing as people living in these modern areas reap several benefits.  People can go outside and see peers of different races, languages, beliefs, economic status, political views, religions. All of these things creates the diversity the world has now adopted over time. The world urban population today is up to 4.2 billion; the entire world population at the time of the first city was around 250,000. The problem with urbanization today is everyone is intrigued by the idea of to living in urban areas because of the benefits described earlier. Cities were built to bring people together so the society can grow and thrive more efficiently. Sure, better jobs, better health access, and diversity all sound great, but 4.2 billion people share these same desires. The mass density and relentless growth in these urban areas have taken these benefits and hindered them from original goal in a way that has hurt people and the earth as a whole. 

   

          Earth is 4.5 billion years young. Many natural wonders of the world have been around for millions of years. It took them millions of years to form, but took humanity just a few to ruin the beauty of the world they live in. Research has found that over 5% of the total surface area of the United States is covered by urban and other built-up areas. This is more land than is covered by the combined total of national and state parks and areas preserved by the Nature Conservancy. Not too long ago, the United States was once a place with vast plains, majestic mountains and flowing rivers without a trace of human activity. A little over three hundred years later and everywhere you look there’s a building, windmill, dam, road, something that taints the natural landscape. The earth doesn’t just adapt to a five hundred foot tall dam; human interference of habitats cause significant damage that people don’t always realize. 

           

          Cities bring together a tremendous amount of cultures and people from different backgrounds, resulting in diversity and international relations. This isn't always a good thing, however. Social impacts such as higher divorce rates, lower fertility rates, and fewer wage earners per household have been caused due to urbanization. These effects are believed to happen because of higher stress and anxiety that come with living in cities. Household numbers drop because people living in cities don’t need the manual labor that rural dwellers require on farms on ranches, not to mention they are more expensive to support. These statistics have established themselves over time and with people’s adaptation to modern urbanization. But, since everyone is drawn to urban areas, social classes have become very separated. Urban areas are supposed to give better access to sanitary and health services, but slum dwellers, whose numbers have risen to about 863 million, aren’t reaping the benefits. Not to mention that racism still exists today. Hundreds of cultures packed into one place in a world haunted by terrorism and a history of racism; what could go wrong? Now with thousands of cities sprawling across the world, people have been closer together than ever before. 

          Do the pros of urbanization outweigh the cons? How can we create a more sustainable environment in urban areas?

Works Cited

www.lorecentral.org/2018/01/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-urbanisation.html.
www.ancient.eu/urbanization/.

www.linkedin.com/pulse/urbanization-problems-developing-countries-golfer-okorie.

ourworldindata.org/urbanization.

family.jrank.org/pages/1732/Urbanization-Social-Impacts-Urbanization.html.

www.unfpa.org/urbanization.

careertrend.com/info-8530337-negative-effects-rapid-urbanization.html.